Saturday, May 4, 2019

Pragya Singh Thakur is a 'threat' to democracy.

“If Curse meant
that much, where she could appreciate the power of cursing, in the first place
she should have cursed the terrorist organizations or the core criminals. The curse is a weapon of feeble religious minds,
who can’t find a mature solution to the problems.”

The Controversial Pragya Singh
Thakur or Sadhvi
Pragya is an Indian Politician and spiritual guru and is an accused in the 2008 Malegaon terrorist bombings.

The verdict of the court is still pending, and she became
associated with a national party which raised controversies. There are various
MLA's and MP's who have serious allegations against them, but Pragya Singh
Thakur raised more controversy.

She faced arrest for terror charges, but was granted bail on following the
dropping of charges under the MCOCA
section by the Special National Investigation Agency.

She contested as a BJP candidate in the 2019 General Elections
of India from Bhopal constituency.

She is currently under trial for multiple charges under the Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act.

Horrible and
Immature Statements which Pragya Thakur Made

She remains controversial due to her ‘being accused’ of ‘terrorist
acts’ and her senseless statements. She faced charges under Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act.

Though the verdict of the court has not arrived yet, that remains
a controversial position again.

She is the prime accused and principal conspirator behind the
September 2008 blast at Malegaon, in which six persons were killed.

A video circulated on internet, in which she claimed that Hemant
Karkare tortured him in Jail and as a result she cursed him which led him to
death.

If Curse meant that much, where she could appreciate the power
of cursing, in the first place she should have cursed the terrorist
organizations or the core criminals. The
curse is weapon of religious people, who can’t find a mature solution to the
problems.

An obvious problem with Pragya Singh’s candidacy is that she
appears to have been chosen solely as a totemic representative of aggressive
Hindutva nationalism.

She was not prominent as a BJP member until she was named the
candidate for Bhopal, where she will take on senior Congress leader Digvijaya
Singh, perhaps BJP wanted more attention seeking contestant.

She is not the only one accused, there are various leaders which
are corrupt and have criminal charges against them, however the concern is that
that ‘planting a bomb’ and targeting a particular community remain a heinous
act.

What happened in Malegaon?

Two blasts
at Malegaon (2006 and 2008), the Samjhauta Express bombing near Panipat
(February 2007), the explosions at Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad (May 2007) and the
Ajmer Dargah (October 2007) were linked to a fringe Hindu group called ‘Abhinav
Bharat’, but the NIA had neither the political backing nor the ability to
obtain convictions as per various reports.

Election law does not bar one facing criminal charges from
contesting, except those convicted of specified classes of offences, or those
that entail a sentence of at least two years. Moreover, she is only
accused, not guilty. There is a constitutional concept, “innocent until proven
guilty’.

It
was coined by that British barrister in the course of a 1791 trial at the Old
Bailey. He turned the tables on legal practice at that trial by saying that the
accusers, not those accused, must be tested, made to establish and prove their
accusation in court.

The
English Court of Appeal in 1935 described Sir William’s concept as the “golden
thread” connecting the burden of proof and the presumption of innocence “within
the web of English criminal law”

If the mere pendency of a case was made a ground for
disqualification, a vindictive regime could get any political opponent
disqualified by merely slapping a criminal charge. That will further reduce the
democratic voices.

Thought, there should be change in laws that ‘terror charges’
are severe and either there should be a speedy trial procedure, or people
should not be allowed to contest in elections until they clear their name.

Especially political
parties themselves can come to a consensus that ‘a controversial candidate’
should not be allowed to participate until the justice is done.

It may be difficult to get enough
lawmakers to agree to this significant change, but it can be a principle political partiesadopt on their own.

There have been instances of Union Ministers resigning from
office as soon as charges were framed against them. There is no harm in
extending this norm to the selection of candidates and let the democracy be
cleaner.

Religion in to
Politics : A threat which rises again and again

Religion throughout the history has been an ‘influential’ tool
where people remain scared and submissive. If you talk about Zakir Naik, his followers blame ‘Hindutva Politics, and condemn the facts provided by NIA.

The problem is with religion certainly. Sadhvi Pragya is a
religious figure and even though it is democracy, the basic foundation of
nation was kept on ‘secularity’. I am not talking about the ‘appeasement’ on
religious basis, and strategies to fetch the votes of minorities etc.

Everywhere, religion, cast and regionalism has been dominating,
which is no where a healthy trend.

Ever since, the religions were organised, their followers fought
until the end. Similar trends have been in countries where a rumour,-“ the particular
religion is danger’ has created the danger of suicide bomber for entire world.

Religion has topped in brutality, as in present century as well, people
don’t much fight over kingdom and borders but for religion for example – ISIS,
Taliban, and there are so many more.

People should learn about the Crusade, which was connected to Christianity,
Jihad is related to Islam, The Holocaust etc.

Yet, Indian politicians are not ‘understanding’ the grave danger
of including religion and politics.

To obtain peace, neither appease nor tease religion politically, it
should be kept very personal.

People can’t simply understand if curse mattered, there should
have been no need of army, and even none of the Prime Minister would have sustained.

Superstitions are so much prevailed in society, and education is
not the cure. These religious extremists have educated followers as well. The
cure should be for religion. Their should be complete ban on revealing religious
identities, and promoting any religion, and hating other ones.

May be, humans learn that it is the earth ‘our’ home, which is dying,
and we are fighting for a mental sickness – religion. Perhaps, only after it –
people can understand that it is unhealthy to give power in hands of religious extremists.

Disclaimer
These views are personal, and Constitutionally, it is my right to criticise a member of Parliament as a concerned citizen. Yet, even after reading this article, if sentiments are hurt, please feel free to visit a 'psychologist' and take care of your 'mental health'. I understand 'religious extremism' make us very vulnerable and trapped in 'Blind-Faith'.